🔺🔺Sociologists

Question 1

Wilmott and young pilot interviews

Answer 1

Used over 100 pilot interviews to help decide in design of their study (what questions etc)

Question 2

Jan Pahl interviews

Answer 2

Used interviews to investigate how family decisions are made

Question 3

Durkheims secondary data

Answer 3

Durkheims study of suicide started with official statistics from across Europe

Question 4

Describe Hargreaves study

Answer 4

Administered questionnaires, conducted interviews and observed the pupils in secondary modern school as a participant observer

Examined behaviour and attitudes of boys In the school and their relationships with teachers

Question 5

Bowles and Gintis study

Answer 5

Measures student personality traits using a questionnaire, compared results with school grade averages found correlation (closer personality is to that required by employer, higher school attainment)

-large sample

Question 6

Example of a structured interview

Answer 6

Balcazar, denman and Lara (1995) used structured interviews to get data on work related interviews and sickness
Features closed questions

Question 7

What do Cohen and Taylor (1977) argue about respondents

Answer 7

Respondents try to please the researcher and tell them what they want to hear

Question 8

Name a sociologist which talks about understanding in unstructured interviews

Answer 8

Kvale (1996) found behaviour is understood from the perspective of those being studied (verstehen)

Question 9

Name an example of an unstructured interview with Pakistanis

Answer 9

Hamid et al (2010) studied young Pakistani females and found respondents could elaborate in topics e.g marriage

Question 10

Main example of unstructured interviews

Answer 10

Sue sharps study on girls attitudes to education family and work.
Asked open ems questions
Rich qualitative data
Valid picture of aspirations/feelings

Question 11

Name a sociologist who talks about semi structured interviews

Answer 11

Oatey(1996) suggests the respondent has greater freedom to answer how they wish :: more valid

Question 12

Name a sociologist who talked about the validity of group interviews

Answer 12

Nicholas suggests sample should be from the same sex and the same class to prevent reliability and validity being compromised

Question 13

Name the key group interview study

Answer 13

Willis ‘having a laff’ study carried out unstructured group interviews to uncover counter school culture

Question 14

What did Gibbs argue a strength of group interviews is?

Answer 14

Ability to draw in attitudes, feelings, experiences and reactions to provide a unique understanding

Question 15

Describe dobash and dobash research in 1980

Answer 15

Study on domestic violence which uses interviews as it allowed formation of good rapport

Question 16

Describe James (2007) research

Answer 16

17 in depth interviews and one focus group, gained through snowball sampling to study groups who have a difficult relationship with the police

Question 17

Describe Chubb and moes survey?

Answer 17

Carried out survey of parental attitudes to schooling, asking fixed questions in interviews or questions used to generalise views.

Question 18

Why was Chubb and Moes survey bias?

Answer 18

It used a fixed list of questions which imposes the researchers meanings of respondents by limiting what answers they can give :: results could have suited new right perspective

Question 19

Describe Anjan Declercq research

Answer 19

Observation in different nursing homes
She found dementia upsetting which affected information collected
Staff also withheld some information from Declercq due to questioning the purpose of the presence

Question 20

Name a non participant observation

Answer 20

Parker’s study of youths stealing cars

Question 21

Name an example of participant observation

Answer 21

Whytes study of a group of poor

Inner city makes

Question 22

Name Lacys key observation study

Answer 22

Used a variety of methods including participant and non participant observation showing detailed insight into social relations in school.

Question 23

Deceive Wright’s observation study

Answer 23

Observed the classroom interactions of over 1000 pupils and teachers to see how teachers actually behaved towards pupils

Question 24

Describe a questionnaire study (large)

Answer 24

Connor and Dewson were able to post 4000 questionnaires to 14 higher education institutions

Question 25

Describe a study which showed a negative of interviews

Answer 25

Fields 1987 study of pupils experience of sex and health education in schools had a Hugh 29% refusal rate by parents who withheld consent

Question 26

Describe James Patrick’s study

Answer 26

Covert observation Study of a Glasgow Gang (very unethical)

Question 27

Describe Whytes street corner society study

Answer 27

Took over 4 years to complete :: impractical

Question 28

Describe an example of triangulation

Answer 28

Knight used statistical secondary data to build an image of a typical polish migrant family and semi structured interviews to challenge that image

-found polish migrants were successful in Gb job marker due to their social skills and willingness to learn English

Question 29

Who advocated positivism

Answer 29

Durkheims and Comte who want to create a science of society

Question 30

Name an example study support by positivists

Answer 30

Rutter (1979) carried out large quantity questionnaires of data from 12 secondary schools
Could correlate achievement, attendance and behaviour with variables such as school and class size
(Identify trends)

Question 31

Describe Lobbans (1974) study

Answer 31

Examined 179 stories in 6 reading schemes used in primary shills and found females were nearly always presented in domestic roles (content analysis)

Question 32

Describe Bests (1993) study

Answer 32

Analysis of reading schemes and found little has changed, but content analysis only tells how often an image/word appears not its context